Waterloo Water Works, IN
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.6 ppb (monitoring period 2022-2024). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
Who runs the water here
Waterloo Water Works serves about 2,242 people through 771 service connections, which makes it a small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Dekalb County, Indiana. EPA system ID: IN5217007; phone on file: 260-570-7084. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Waterloo Water Works's lead record
The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Waterloo Water Works is 3.6 ppb across 1 monitoring period, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 3.6 ppb |
Against other Indiana systems
Of the 687 Indiana systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.31 ppb; 6 are over 15 ppb right now and 36 have gone over at some point. Waterloo Water Works's 3.6 ppb sits at the 84th percentile in Indiana and the 86th nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
6 other systems share Dekalb County; 3 of them have a higher latest lead result than Waterloo Water Works. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Auburn Water Department | 12,800 | 4.7 ppb |
| Garrett Water Utility | 6,390 | 5 ppb |
| Butler Water Department | 2,700 | 8 ppb |
| St. Joe Water Department | 460 | 0 (not detected) |
| Corunna Water Utility | 255 | 2.6 ppb |
| Ben Mar Chateau | 166 | 0 (not detected) |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Hamilton, IN may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Waterloo Water Works whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. What a 90th-percentile result does and does not tell you: how to read a lead result. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.